Best Places In The World To Retire

The cost to rent a home in the Yucatan Peninsula varies depending on the type of house and the area where it is located. If you go to areas like Cancun or Playa del Carmen, that is a completely different market than in other areas. You will be getting really high prices in that area depending on what area of Cancun or Playa you want to be in. If you are beachfront, the prices will be higher. If you are downtown, the rent will be around $2,500 a month. 
 
If you go to Merida,...

The cost to rent a home in the Yucatan Peninsula varies depending on the type of house and the area where it is located. If you go to areas like Cancun or Playa del Carmen, that is a completely different market than in other areas. You will be getting really high prices in that area depending on what area of Cancun or Playa you want to be in. If you are beachfront, the prices will be higher. If you are downtown, the rent will be around $2,500 a month. 
 
If you go to Merida, you could rent a very nice house for $700 to $1,000 a month. That would be a 3,000 square foot house with a pool, a nice garden, three bedrooms, and the total lot area would be around 5,500 square foot. It would be located in a nice and safe area. If you rent in an exclusive area like in the country clubs, the rent would be around $1,500 a month for a condo unit. You could also rent a house next to the golf course for $2,000 a month.
 
The beach is a different market. If you go to very cheap areas on the beach, you would find houses that are around the beach but the house would be 30+ years old and without services. You could rent that house for around $400 a month. If you rent a four-bedroom house and each one has a bathroom, has a nice swimming pool, etc., that would cost around $1,500 a month on the beach. 
 
Some rentals have inclusions like furniture and appliances. Some of them rent out just the houses as they are. In the area where we have our offices, you could rent a very nice two-bedroom, furnished house for $750 a month. It’s a very nice area. It doesn’t have a pool or a garden but you live in a small gated community of eight to ten houses, which has become the trend in some areas. The rent includes utilities like water, electric, internet, garbage collection, etc.

 

(Pictured: Home in Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico.)

There are no rivers, lakes or waterfalls in Ambergris Caye but just outside the financial center that we are in in San Pedro (the main town on Ambergris Caye) I can stand on street and look left to see the lagoon and look to the right and see the ocean. Either one is less than a 3-minute walk to get to. That is how narrow the island of Ambergris Caye is. It is 25 miles long and a mile wide at its widest point and where we live in the San Pedro area is not at the island’s widest...

There are no rivers, lakes or waterfalls in Ambergris Caye but just outside the financial center that we are in in San Pedro (the main town on Ambergris Caye) I can stand on street and look left to see the lagoon and look to the right and see the ocean. Either one is less than a 3-minute walk to get to. That is how narrow the island of Ambergris Caye is. It is 25 miles long and a mile wide at its widest point and where we live in the San Pedro area is not at the island’s widest point.

Within Casco Viejo there isn't a lot of adventure travel.  You can, however, rent bikes, stroll through the historical town and relax!

 

You will need to travel out of Casco Viejo for adventure travel.  There is mountain biking, dirt biking, rock climbing, etc., all out of town.  For example, Nitro City is well known for their extreme sports, and is located approximately 1 1/2 hours from Casco Viejo by car. 

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Within Casco Viejo there isn't a lot of adventure travel.  You can, however, rent bikes, stroll through the historical town and relax!

 

You will need to travel out of Casco Viejo for adventure travel.  There is mountain biking, dirt biking, rock climbing, etc., all out of town.  For example, Nitro City is well known for their extreme sports, and is located approximately 1 1/2 hours from Casco Viejo by car. 

 

There are road bike clubs around, and more sports clubs within Panama City, but Casco Viejo isn't really known for these types of activities.  Casco Viejo is more known for cafes, restaurants, bars and the old buildings.

 

 

It is pretty easy to buy furniture in Managua, Nicaragua, but it depends on what are you looking for in quality. There are malls where you can purchase mass-produced furniture. And then there are stores that offer original and well-crafted furniture, shops like Simplemente Madera, Michael Pierson, Eza Furniture's, among others. It all depends on your budget and taste.

It is pretty easy to buy furniture in Managua, Nicaragua, but it depends on what are you looking for in quality. There are malls where you can purchase mass-produced furniture. And then there are stores that offer original and well-crafted furniture, shops like Simplemente Madera, Michael Pierson, Eza Furniture's, among others. It all depends on your budget and taste.

Sad to say, but for us the biggest surprise was how friendly, open and caring people are in both the countries that we've been expats in. Panama has some of the friendliest and most helpful people in the world, and Colombians are, if anything, even more so. If you're considering becoming an expat, give up the existential fear of other people, other cultures, and you'll feel a lot better, and fit in much faster. There are a lot of unfounded, stereotypical horror stories about hostile...

Sad to say, but for us the biggest surprise was how friendly, open and caring people are in both the countries that we've been expats in. Panama has some of the friendliest and most helpful people in the world, and Colombians are, if anything, even more so. If you're considering becoming an expat, give up the existential fear of other people, other cultures, and you'll feel a lot better, and fit in much faster. There are a lot of unfounded, stereotypical horror stories about hostile native people, and gringo bashing episodes, but the vast majority of them are fabrications, Sure, there are criminals and malcontents everywhere, but in our experience, the rest of the population, in Panama and again in Colombia more than make up for the bad actors.

 

One more thing: If you show a real effort to learn the local language, people tend to be even more friendly and helpful. Go for it.

 

BE Medellin

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(Cartagena, Colombia, pictured.)